Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections
of the Naval
Historical Center. U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph # NH 99279

USS Triton in about 1940

US Navy submarine USS Triton (SS-201) was
based at Brisbane Submarine Base during WW2. It is known to
have left Brisbane for patrol duties on 16 February 1943. Official records indicate that
she was sunk by Japanese depth charges north west of the Admiralty Islands on 15 March
1943 with the loss of 74 crew members. Another theory on the loss of the USS Triton
suggests that it may have been sunk by "friendly fire"
in the Brisbane River or somewhere near Brisbane between 27 and 29th March 1943.

The story below tells of the official record of
the fate of the American submarine USS Triton. But I have heard another version. A friend
of mine in Western Australia, Lindsay Peet, first advised me of the mysterious story about
the fate of the USS Triton. He had been in contact back in 1997 with a lady in the USA,
who is the daughter of one of those who was lost aboard USS Triton after making all six
war patrols aboard her.

Based on a number of eye witness accounts of men
who were waiting for Triton's arrival in Brisbane, it is believed that the
USS Triton may have been sunk by "friendly fire" whilst coming into Moreton Bay
near Brisbane, Queensland, Australia between 27 and 29 March 1943. Capricorn
Wharf on the Brisbane River at New Farm in Brisbane was the home base for the USS
Triton.

Lindsay Peet did some research into secondary
sources and found that in March 1943 an Avro Anson squadron, No.
71 Squadron RAAF under the command of Squadron Leader P.L.B. Gibson was based at Lowood west of Brisbane. This squadron was carrying out
anti-submarine patrols.

On 17 March 1943, a 250 -lb bomb was dropped on
a suspected submarine by Sergeant R.N. Walesby and, on the 28 March 1943, Walesby and his
crew of Sergeant P.K. Yates and Flight Sergeant
H.W. Howes reported being fired upon by a
similar vessel" (page 88 in 'Maritime and Transport units, vol. 4 of Units of the
RAAF, 1995).

One of the reports that I have seen, indicates
that USS Triton had been been sent a signal on 25 March 1943, which ordered her to leave
the operational area north of New Guinea and return to Brisbane. The Operational orders
for USS Triton had instructed her to return to Brisbane Sub Base
on 2 April 1943.

The lady in the USA has been told by the crews
of 5 other submarines in port at the time, that USS Triton had made contact with Brisbane
military authorities at about midnight on her return into Brisbane stating that she had
spotted the Moreton Light and had surfaced and was entering Moreton Bay at 12 knots with
an ETA at the New Farm submarine base of 8 a.m. Based on this message, the officers and
crews of the six other submarines, and the Navy Band were waiting for USS Triton to arrive
at the New Farm wharf. They had mail, fresh fruit and
vegetables, and ice cream to give to the crew members of USS Triton. But it failed to
arrive. A pilot boat had been dispatched to meet USS Triton. They did not find her.

Amongst the large crowd waiting at Capricorn Wharf in New Farm for the USS Triton to arrive that
morning, were the crews of USS Albacore,
USS Grampus, USS
Grouper, USS Peto, USS
Grayback,
and USS Growler, along with relief crews and some men waiting to reboard USS Triton.

Click on picture to enlarge

One man in Brisbane who was waiting to board USS Triton upon
her return said that he was re-assigned to USS Albacore on the day he was told that USS
Triton had been sunk by accident coming into New Farm Wharf.
Albacore's Muster Rolls establish that he was assigned to USS Albacore
on 29 March 1943.

So if it was true that USS Triton was about to enter Moreton
Bay on 29 March 1943, why did it not make it into port? There are a number of possible
reasons:-

The co-ordination in the recognition and understanding of
signals was clearly an issue during the war. It has also
been reported that many new
pilots sometimes mistook proper signal flares for gun fire and that this might have been
the case with USS Triton.

There was a mine field
installed between Bribie Island and Moreton Island by the British Navy ship "Job
Fifty-one". The mine field was connected to a firing button in the detonation room at
Caloundra. There was a direct underwater line from the Bribie Forts to the Caloundra
Telephone exchange. Elva Wendt was one of the operators on the telephone exchange.

In Captain William J. Ruhe's book, "War in
the Boats", page 36, (Brassy's, Incorporated, with foreword
by Tom Clancy), he speaks
of coming to within 5 seconds of being blown up by an allied mine, on entrance to Moreton
Bay, before "recognition signals were exchanged and the activated mine was turned
off.

On pages 63-64 of his book, Captain Ruhe writes,
"As before, we were challenged by the (Australian) shore station guarding the bay,
and as before, the army used an incorrect challenging procedure. When a correct
recognition signal was sent by S-37, the shore station gave the wrong reply. There was
much blinking back and forth to straighten things out, and all the while the S-37 was
posing as good bait for any Japanese submarine the might be lurking off the entrance to
Moreton Bay."

Lindsay Peet offers the following observations:-

I am trying to compare the "Official
version on the fate of USS TRITON" on your webpage and the USN webpage on the USS
TRITON (...ww2boats/triton.htm) with the account on pages 40-1 in the book "United
States submarine losses World War II" (Naval History Division, Washington DC, 1963
edition). The latter gives four Latitudes & Longitudes but the USN webpage omits such
references which are contained in the first, fourth and fifth (2 positions) paragraphs. It
seems strange that these positions are now omitted.

An interesting reference is on page 197 of
Rohwer & Hummelchen's "Chronology of the war at sea 1939-1945" (Greenhill,
London, 1992) where they say: "TRITON (Lt-Cdr McKenzie) sinks two ships of 10118 tons
but is herself sunk on 15 Mar 1942 by a Japanese destroyer off the Admiralties".
These two maritime historians are of high standing, but they may have had to rely on US
sources for this one.

If the USS Triton had been sunk by
"friendly fire", it is probably feasible to suggest that such an incident would
have been covered up.

There is yet another theory that the USS Triton
was involved in some sort of accident involving the loss of all lives and that it was
recovered and sent to Fremantle for repairs in July 1943. Lindsay Peet advised as
follows:-

There are some records in the State Record
Office covering shipping at Fremantle, including (I seem to recollect) the use of the
slipway, put in, just in time for WW2.

This slipway was large enough to have been
used by USN submarines, however the USN sent a floating dry dock, ARD-10, with it arriving
at Fremantle in March 1944.

Can anyone help me with more
information on this theory?

Either to confirm or dispel
the theory

If you were based at Fort
Bribie, Fort Cowan, Fort Rous
or Fort Lytton in March 1943, could you please let me know if
your diary shows an details of an explosion at sea around the 28 or 29 March 1943. Better
still, if you have heard of the possible accidental sinking of an American submarine in
Moreton Bay in March 1943, I'd also like to hear from you.

About 6 weeks later on 14 May 1943, Japanese
Submarine I-177 sunk the hospital ship Centaur just outside Moreton Bay about 23 nautical
miles ENE of Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island. 268 persons were killed in this
tragic incident.

The Official version on the Fate of USS
Triton

Submarine SS-201, USS Triton, commanded by Lt. Cmdr. G. K.
MacKenzie, Jr., left the submarine base at Capricorn Wharf at
New Farm in Brisbane on 16 February 1943 to begin her sixth patrol in the South West Pacific Area. As she headed north, she hunted for
Japanese shipping between Rabaul and Shortland Basin. USS Triton started to patrol the
ocean near the equator on 23 February 1943.

USS Snapper and USS Trigger were also operating in adjoining
areas. On 6 March 1943, USS Triton left here area to attack a Japanese Convoy in USS
Trigger's area. USS Triton reported that she had sunk two ships in the convoy and damaged
another one, claiming 3 hits from 6 torpedoes. She was subsequently depth charged by the
Japanese destroyer in the convoy. After reporting 2 night attacks, one dawn attack and an
afternoon attack, all unsuccessful, she returned to her own operational area. But 8 hours
later she reported another night attack on the convoy where she claimed the sinking of two
more freighters, 5 hits from 8 torpedoes.

The following is the official story on the fate of the
submarine SS-201, USS Triton:-

"Lost with a crew of 74 in the Caroline Basin, northwest
of the Admiralty Islands, Southwest of Rabaul on March 15, 1943. Investigations of
Japanese records recovered after the war showed that a submarine was depth-charged by
three Japanese destroyers in that area on 15 March. "A great quantity of oil and
debris came to the surface, including manufactured goods inscribed 'Made in USA'."
Lat.: 0 degrees, 09 minutes North; Longitude: 144 degrees, 55 minutes East. USS Trigger,
SS-237, in an adjoining patrol area heard the depth charge attack lasting more than an
hour, on what is thought to have been USS Triton.

USS Triton was reported overdue from patrol and presumed lost
on 10 April, 1943. In official Japanese records dated 1943, and obtained in 1998, the
sinking of a submarine by Japanese Subchaser #23 is indicated in one report but
questionable in another.